The Barrow County Board of Commissioners showed no signs Tuesday night that it plans to substantially restore the more than $777,000 cut from Sheriff Jud Smith’s departmental and jail budgets for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. At the end of the BOC meeting, the sheriff’s departmental budget remained $456,725 short of funding.
“On day one I’m going to be underfunded,” Smith said.
For the full story, see the Aug. 28 issue of the Barrow Journal.

Social media oh well. Time for some of us employees of Judd Smith to stand behind him at the next meeting and fill the commissioners meeting. Yup I said it. Us ! He has been good to us. Know we need to stand up.

If your an employee of the man who has stood up for us, fought for us, even took money out of HIS OWN POCKET for us, you need to show your support and be at the meeting next week. There is nothing so life altering that you cant show up for 30-45 minutes to support YOUR employer, after all I believe if it wasn't for Sheriff Smith, the same Sheriff Smith who stood in front of YOU, swore YOU in, and trusted YOU to be part of one of the premier agencies in Georgia, not to mention gave you a job period, you wouldn't be collecting a pay check, the same paycheck he is fighting for you/us to keep....No, I Don't think 30 minutes is too much to ask too support OUR Sheriff.

Hey Sheriff,
you could probably save us taxpayers a lot of money if your goons would quit jailing their fellow citizens for victimless crimes and quit wasting tax money of the Losing "war on drugs".
You can't even keep drugs out of the prisons, what makes you think you can keep them out of the community.

So, OE..I see your still in here bashing local Law Enforcement. Please enlighten us with your words of wisdom and tell us what you would do to change the Law Enforcement activities and stop Deputies from arresting on "Victimless Crimes".....BTW, Give me ONE victimless crime!. Last I checked,,,,There is NO crime, WITHOUT A WHAT, ,,, your can zay it,,,thats right,,,,just shout it out one time OE.......A VICTIM!!!!!! WOW, glad to see your still entertaining everyone in here with your great ideas and words of wisdom.

Yes, there is a victim, the State of Georgia! The Laws of Georgia. How about the millions of other citizens who would probably like to grow/use Marijuana for "medicinal uses", yet understand the consequence's if caught! See OE, that's what the stuff does to your brain, gives you great logic behind your thoughts. (Note the sarcasm, I know I have to spell it out) Interesting enough though, here you are openly admitting committing a Felony, YES, Manufacturing Marijuana IS a Felony, and yet your going to sit and blog about the wrongdoings at the Sheriffs Office....hmmm can you say hypocrite? Yet your the first one to call that same Sheriffs Office if your house gets broken into or car stolen, ironically, probably by a drug user looking for their next score....little food for thought.

Are you seriously quoting case law from 1803? Wow, you may want to go check your sources. Up to date, 2013 sources. With your logic, I must be breaking the law when I stop a car for speeding, seeing the victim is the State of Georgia. Again, great logic. I do however like that you had NOTHING to say about who you would call if your car is stolen/ broken into. Pretty much just want to debate ( or attempt too anyway) what's convenient for you!!! Interesting. You showed your TRUE colors in that post

stop letting employees take vehilces home on taxpayer gas not counting the wear and tear on the vehicles that comes with that.one employee drives a 4x4 truck and he takes it home to north jackson county everyday and uses it to hunt during deer season and to take his son to atlanta to a sports camp 2 or 3 times a week,all on taxpayer money

That same vehicle used to belong to that deputy. The deputy could no longer afford the payments and turned it into Akins Ford in Winder. The sheriff was there to then "purchase" the truck from Akins and turn it back over to the same deputy. The tax payers bailed the deputy out of the truck payment.

Go do your homework before posting something you apparently know nothing about. First, "taxpayer gas"! The average cost for a deputy to drive the vehicle home is approximately $1.68 too work and $1.68 back home. ( $3.36 per shift X 15 shifts per month= $50.40 a month) For that $50.40 a month you get more deputies on the road at once, quicker response time and a proven fact that the vehicle is better taken care of which in turn makes that same vehicle last longer. Now lets look at your way shall we. Two deputies sharing one car, one working day shift, one working night shift. 24 hours that ONE vehicle is running seeing we work 12 hour shifts. How quick do you think the "taxpayers" will be replacing patrol vehicles? Its simple logic really. The more use, the more wear and tear, quicker mileage adage = replacing vehicles every 2-3 years apposed to 6-7 years. What you also lose is response time to calls while the deputies are switching all of there work equipment in and out of the car at shift change, apposed to the deputy who is on there were to work, in there take home car, who can go directly to that call for service without having to go to office first...simple logic when breaking it down, don't ya think? Don't believe me, go ask the hundreds of other LE agencies that have conducted studies on what is more beneficial as it pertains to take home cars. Bet you would LOVE to have one of those deputies live next door to you and your family. After all, who is going to commit a crime close to a parked, in open view patrol car in the driveway???? Hmmm

Reduced budget = reduced deps and reduced response for calls for service. Like it, or not, the safety/security of any jurisdiction id paramount. You have health insurance. Do you use it every day? No, but you pay for it in the event you need it. If you make it difficult to work in Barrow, the good deps will leave. The sorry deps will stay because they have no where to go. Once the good deps go, the only apps you'll get will be everyone's throw aways. Statham is a prime example. They had a good group, for a short time, but blew it. The SO is certainly top heavy. I can think of two positions that could go, and the SO wouldn't skip a beat. The major over patrol comes in at 9(ish), leaves at 3 with a 2 hour lunch. He is well compensated for his "work." There are others. If you don't like the way things are done, get off the sideline, make an effort and quit complaining.

It's my understanding that this major now monitors his employees for time clock violations, while working 5-6 hour work days himself. The understanding is the short work days are a "perk" of the job (his words not mine). I wonder what the tax payers of that county feel about his perk. What other perks does he feel entitled to? That's as hypocritical as writing no insurance tickets while your county cars go MONTHS without insurance coverage. Maybe the BJ needs to look into these things. Fraudulent practices lead to more fraudulent practices.

you are right joey the truck was the deputys personal truck he bought for himself and drove until he couldnt afford it any longer so he traded it in at akins ford and in the sheriff himself was there to buy it back with taxpayer money and put the deputy right back in it that day.the deputy does not even have a personal vehicle and hasnt for a long time this truck is it.he works when he wants comes in and leaves at random,leaves in time to get to commerce to get his son from school and get him back to atlanta for sports traing all in this vehicle and then back to his home near the madison county line.the gas for this vehicle comes from us the taxpayer and pretty soon he will be wanting another new truck.boc wake up and investigate

And you have proof of ALL of this? You must have photos, video etc. If you don't, enough said!!! If you do, you need to get a life, stop worrying about one deputy in the entire Sheriffs Office. This Deputy MUST be responsible for the $777,000 budget cut,tax increases, Right? I mean after all, its not a agency with more then a few hundred employees, yet you pick ONE,,,,JUST ONE to call out. Either get your facts straight or stop the PERSONAL attacks on the deputy. Its very obvious that is ALL they are. A personal agenda. I truly hope you don't show up at the citizens meeting with this complaint without ANY FACTS, or as the only complaint you have. Then again, I kinda hope you do, I would love to see the REAL COWARD hiding behind accusations that you know NOTHING about or CANNOT produce FACTUAL evidence, if you could, Mr Concerned Citizen of the year,surley you would have brought this to the attention of the Sheriff A LONG TIME AGO....NOPE, if anything you should ashamed that YOU LET this Deputy waste "taxpayer" money for so long, ,,,,HEY ALL THE OTHER TAXOAYERS IN HERE, LETS THANKS MR/MRS. PERSONAL AGENDA FOR ALLOWING THE ONE DEPUTY TO MAKE OUR TAXES GO UP, YET HAS NEVER SAID A THING UNTIL NOW!!!! You have my vote for Citizen of the Year or should I say Deputy of the Year....I think the second is more accurate. BTW, The ONLY fact you have right in all of this....yep, he does live in Commerce/North Jackson CO area, and yes, the Sheriff did purchase that truck, but it certainly wasn't for the reasons you said, and it actually SAVED the taxpayers money, this is FACT, Don't believe me, go to Aikens Ford, better yet, file open records on the county finances,,, you will have your answers then....true, factual answers. All the other accusation or perceptions....just that. Period. Now, Mr. Citi,,I mean Deputy of the year,,,Produce facts, Until then, stop wasting taxpayer money by blogging on the clock! I really don't know why I wasted my time responded this this junk,,,, I just lost 5 minutes of my life ill never get back and dropped 4 points on my IQ debating with you!!

sheriff smith shouldnt have to worry about time sheets and keeping track of employees but someone in the dept should be doing that job.most of the employees dont have to worry about being watched they do as they please come and go as they please.give a inch they take a mile but its at taxpayer expence

E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To leave a comment you must approve it via e-mail, which will be sent to your address after submission.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: